The frigate deployed from her home port in Newport, Rhode Island, in January 1988, heading for the Persian Gulf to participate in Operation Earnest Will, the escort of reflagged Kuwaiti tankers during the Iran–Iraq War. The Roberts had arrived in the Persian Gulf and was heading for a refueling rendezvous with USS San Jose on 14 April when the ship struck an M-08naval mine in the central Persian Gulf, an area she had safely transited a few days earlier. The mine blew a 15-foot (5 m) hole in the hull, flooded the engine room, and knocked the two gas turbines from their mounts. The blast also broke the keel of the ship; such structural damage is almost always fatal to most vessels. The crew fought fire and flooding for five hours and saved the ship. Among other steps, sailors cinched cables on the cracked superstructure in an effort to stabilize it.[1] She used her auxiliary thrusters to get out of the mine field at 5kts. She never lost combat capability with her radars and Mk13 missile launcher. Ten sailors were medevaced by HC-5 CH-46s embarked on USS San Jose for injuries sustained in the blast; six returned to the Roberts in a day or so. Four burn victims were sent for treatment to a military hospital in Germany, and eventually to medical facilities in the United States.[2]

When U.S. divers recovered several unexploded mines, they found that their serial numbers matched the sequence on mines seized the previous September aboard an Iranian mine-layer named Iran Ajr. Four days later, U.S. forces retaliated against Iran in Operation Praying Mantis, a one-day campaign that was the largest American surface engagement since World War II.[3] U.S. ships, aircraft, and troops destroyed two Iranian oil platforms allegedly used to control Iranian naval forces in the Persian Gulf, sank one Iranian frigate, damaged another, and sent at least three armed high-speed boats to the bottom. The U.S. lost one Marine helicopter and its crew of two airmen in what appeared to be a night maneuver accident rather than a result of hostile operations.

On 27 June 1988, Roberts was loaded onto the Mighty Servant 2, a semi-submersible heavy lift ship owned by Dutch shipping firm Wijsmuller Transport and carried back to Newport for $1.3 million.[4] The frigate arrived at BIW's Portland, Maine, yard on 6 October 1988 for repairs. The repair job was unique: the entire engine room was cut out of the hull, and a 315-ton replacement module was jacked up and welded into place.[5] She undocked 1 April 1989 for sea trials.

The repairs were completed three weeks ahead of schedule at a cost of $89.5 million, $3.5 million less than expected.[1] By comparison, USS Princeton, which was damaged by a moored mine during the 1991 Gulf War, was repaired for $24 million;[6] however, the cruiser was not directly struck by the mine and her displacement is nearly twice that of Roberts. The mine that nearly sank Roberts had an estimated cost of $1,500.[6]

After 13 months of repairs, Roberts was returned to service in a 16 October 1989 ceremony.

Roberts made her second deployment in 1990 for Operation Desert Storm and Operation Desert Shield. The frigate operated as part of the Red Sea Maritime Interception Force, an international force of ships that enforced U.N. sanctions against Iraq. The frigate's sailors boarded more than 100 merchant ships in efforts to prevent cargo shipments to or from Iraq.[7] On 28 March 1991, she returned to Newport.

"Sammy B", as the ship is sometimes called, was later homeported in Mayport, Florida.